Polytechnique, 23 years, still excuse-making …

It’s been 23 years since the bloody massacre at Ecole Polytechnique. 23 years to progress, improve, and realize the root causes of this tragic event. 23 years to reeducate and prevent another similar event from happening.

Or, if you’re Jonathan Kay, writer for the National Post, 23 years to fine tune your excuse-making, and be sure you can do everything in your power to undermine the severity of these actions, and attempt to place some version of religion in the place of Actually Doing Something To Fix The Damn Problems.

In his piece for the National Post Opinion Section, found Here, Mr. Kay makes a few points. Points that can only be described in a single way: The most asinine, moronic, and catastrophically unintelligent things any human being has ever been paid to say on the subject of Polytechnique.

For starters, when looking at how to properly deal with the advanced psychology, and sociology, that is found in this case, maybe try not to take cues from a group of people that don’t understand electricity. Try starting in AT LEAST the 19th century, preferably the 20th… but such modern ideas can be hard for some.

So, lets start our disection of WHY Mr. Kay is such a complete fool.

Firstly, right after admitting that the killer wrote that this was a crime targeting women, and that he blamed FEMINISM for ruining his life, Mr. Kay states:

But I think Barbara Frum had it right when a day later, she asked, on CBC’s The Journal: “Why do we diminish [the act] by suggesting that it was an act against just one group?”

Why? Because, IT WAS AN ACT AGAINST ONE GROUP. Just like the Armenian Genocide, while tragic for ALL people, in that murder is ALWAYS tragic, wasn’t an attack on Scottish people. The crime was directed, and carried out, against a SPECIFIC group. A quote from the killers suicide note confirms this.

“Because I have decided to send the feminists, who have always ruined my life, to their Maker.”

But carrying on, Mr. Kay brings up the killers own manifesto, pointing out that if one is to

“Read his eccentric murder manifesto, and his unhinged nature becomes clear: On his female-victim wish list were a half-dozen police officers whose crime was playing on a volleyball team together.”

At this point, a reader could rightly wonder if Mr. Kay ever actually read the killer’s manifesto… The list was not based on a volleyball team, but on these women be “suspected Feminists”, a group the killer felt a McCartnian level of loathing for, blaming them not only for his own issues, but many of the larger problems in society.

Mr. Kay continues, stating that this incident was just tragic, and unpreventable, much as the recent shooting in the USA, at the Dark Knight screening. Wouldn’t THAT be convenient? If things like this really did “just happen”, and nothing anyone could do could prevent it.

In the end, Mr. Kay does have a solution however. Accept that evil “will always exist” and just pray to his invisible sky friend to protect people. Because what else could mere people do? Besides learn, grow, and change the way they think, and function, in society? But that would be HARD. Much easier to put all the responsibility onto your imaginary friend. Make him change, not you.

“Evil will always be with us. What changes are the psychological reflexes that help us deal with it”

I sincerely hope so. Maybe in the near future, you’re psychological reflex will not be to deny and flee from any conclusions you dislike. Instead, perhaps we can have a reflex that makes us analyze what parts of society allowed for such a tragedy, and try and change them.

Otherwise, the Amish will be driving flying cars before anything gets fixed.